


Sea Song

by MysticDragonTrash



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Shenadigans, Strong Female Characters, selkie mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 20:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14553057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDragonTrash/pseuds/MysticDragonTrash
Summary: I wrote this for a creative writing course. Cousins Phoenix and Joan commit minor felonies in order to free a selkie from her 'husband'. based on my interpretation of Selkie mythology. Might become part of a series.





	Sea Song

It’s funny how most people are afraid of the dark, after all, logically, there is nothing in the dark that isn’t also in the light. Personally, I think that it’s because we can see and when we can’t we realise that we also cannot be seen. There’s a phrase ‘what you are in the dark’, I don’t think anyone wants to be tested like that, to find out whether they can be good when no one is there to remind them to be. People worry they’ll fail.  
Of course, on the other hand you have people who welcome the dark, who delight in not being seen or thought of. People who are out to make mischief. People like thieves.  
‘So, remind me, why are we breaking curfew again?’ I grumble. Nix looks at me from her position on the wall and gives the grin that never fails to lead me into trouble.  
‘Well, my dear cousin, tonight’s adventure is to reunite a selkie-wife with her skin!’ she looks excited, of course she does. Judging by that look alone, tonight will probably involve at least one breaking and entering and a jaunty chase across town.  
‘Ok, ok,’ I follow her down the alley behind our house, ‘Folklore’s your forte, remember. Fill me in, what’s a selkie? Why are we giving ‘em a skin?’ as I say this, I can tell Nix is rolling her eyes at me even in the dark.  
‘Like you haven’t heard me talk about them before, Selkies are seal people, they remove their seal skin to walk on land and if it gets lost or stolen they can’t return to the sea until they get it back,’ she lectures. Frowning I reply,  
‘Oh yeah, I remember now, douche takes skin, forces woman to be his wife, once she gets her skin back she legs it to the ocean. Kay, got it, stories never even name the wife.’ When I look up from grumbling, Nix is grinning at me.  
‘Right on one Joan!’  
‘That not the expression.’  
‘Muneyh, anyway you know Mr Hampson up near the dock? Well turns out his wife, Melody, is a selkie-woman. She came up to me at the coffee shop and asked for my aid in retrieving her skin. That grin again ‘Seems like we’re getting a rep cousin.’  
I sighed. Sometimes I wondered why Nix’s parents named her Phoenix. It’s not like they could have expected her to live a normal, plain life with a name like that. They weren’t Unaware of the possible consequences, they had to have known names are important. I sigh again, more deeply this time. I can smell the seaweed and salt in the air as we approach the docks.  
‘How do you always drag me into these things Nix?’ A soft snort. A reply,  
‘I don’t drag you into anything Joan, you have heroic tendencies.’ These signs are becoming a habit but I can’t deny it, if I know something’s wrong I (unfortunately) try to help, often by punching, which got me in trouble with people bullying Nix in primary school. Sometimes I wonder if my parents knew about the importance of names when they chose Joan, from Joan of Arc, for me. 

We’ve followed the street, hopped a fence and started to cut across the park by now. In the daytime it’s a cheerful, open place with kids and teenagers hanging out and playing. Right now, the shadows crept up the trees and playset, making them cold and foreign. I was reminded a bit of ghost towns and horror movies. We stuck near these features as we crossed the park. The plan was to avoid open spaces where we could be seen if the moon showed her face by the looming houses that terraced the park. Nix was seemingly carefree beside me but I watched the windows for any sign of movement. I knew that tomorrow, if all went well, a respected member of the community would be looking for two thieves (us) so discretion was best.  
We had our first shock of the night when we climbed the wall into someone’s yard, I knocked over a pot. A sharp noise split the air as Nix dragged me into the street, I thought I heard someone yell ‘bloody cats’ but we were halfway down the street by then.  
Eventually we stopped. We looked at each other. We held our hand over our mouths in a desperate attempt to muffle our giggles. Once we were back in control of ourselves, I realised that the tension I hadn’t known was there had lifted somewhat. I grinned at Nix.  
‘Guess we’re cats now.’  
‘Better than getting caught.’  
‘You know, we’re out to steal something, right? You could say we’re- cat-burglars, eh?’  
I was treated to one of Nix’s flattest look, the kind she reserved for my best jokes.  
‘Joan, no, just no, your joke privileges are still gone, I never gave them back.’  
‘Tch.’

After that the trip went smoothly, no more unexpected events. We stood in front of a medium size house that was surprisingly humble for someone who lived on the waterfront. It was large but not pseudo-mansion large. A blue tiled roof topped ocean-proof painted wall and overlooked a walled garden. Nix and I crouched in a side street, out of the glow of the street lamps. I rummaged through my backpack until I found what I needed. Tossing the blue bird mask to Nix, I pulled my own grey mask over my ponytail.  
‘Here we go,’ Nix said, getting serious, all but traces of her usual air headedness gone now, ‘Now we’re Bluebird and the Knight, on mission.’ Nodding, I replied,  
‘Right, so how are we getting in, I brought my lock picks but he probably has electric locks.’  
‘Ms Melody gave me a key and she turned off the security for the night, no cameras.’ I was impressed. Well this was easier than several previous adventures. Then something occurred to me. ‘What about Hampson? Won’t he wake up?’ I asked. Nix replied,  
‘No, he’s out on one of the boats tonight, they come back tomorrow.’ Huh, maybe we could avoid the chase after all. We made our way silently to the back door. Once we were inside, we got to work. Forgoing conventional methods, as we assumed Ms Melody would have tried that, I pulled out my dowsing ring and began looking for traces of magic. Nix just did her quiet thing, trying to get a sense of where it could be. I used to envy her for being so attuned to the Else world, before I discovered the trouble it brought her. Now there was a reason I was the Knight. Shivering at the memories I turned away and got to work. Then I paused, ‘Bluebird, what about Ms Melody? Won’t she show up in the dowsing stone?’ I whispered. ‘No need to worry Knight, she’s staying at a friend’s house,’ she replied equally quietly. ‘We’ve done this before and I can learn from my mistakes.’ I nod and go back to looking through the ring.  
Looking through the dowsing ring is an interesting experience. The whole house feels like seawater, salty with an aftertaste of brine, probably from the selkie living here. Some traces seem older but there is a steady waft of seaweed drifting from the second floor. Together we climb the stairs, the carved rail is cold under my palm. I followed Nix and the sea-smell down the hall. The salt was now strong on my tongue, seaweed in my nose and the ocean was gradually worming it’s way under my skin, a cold force no human could touch. Finally, we reached what I assumed was the master bedroom. That made sense, Melody would spend a lot of time in that room so her own magic would somewhat mask the skin’s. Plus, I don’t think Selkie’s have sensing abilities.  
Nix and I didn’t need words now, reaching for the door, we entered the room. I went to look around with my ring but Nix beat me to it. She immediately climbed onto the bed and reached for the ceiling near the wall. I waited, listening to the springs creak as she pushed at the ceiling until a board moved. With bated breath, I watched as she removed a shimmering grey fabric. Even without my ring I could feel it was powerful, Melody probably wasn’t your ordinary seal-person then. Which put Hampson’s success in a suspicious light, now that I think about it.  
Suddenly, Nix started gasping, like she was drowning, and shivering. When I touched her arm, she was freezing, even though the room was warm. Cursing to myself, I shoved the skin into the backpack, if I got chills how would she feel, how could I have forgotten? Zipping up the bag lessened the ocean-magic coming from it. Setting it away from us I wrapped my arms around my cousin, trying to warm her up. ‘Come on Nixie, breathe,’ I muttered to her. Eventually she was breathing properly. I picked up my bag and handed her a bottle of Cola. I would never understand soda’s power of helping people recover from magic exposure, probably something to do with the preservatives. A few more minutes and we were ready to leave which was good because the sun was beginning its climb out of the ocean.  
It was when we were climbing back over Hampson’s wall that I knew the chase wasn’t off the table yet. (Dang it Murphey!) The guy must have hired a cleaner or something because I’m halfway over when I hear a loud ‘Hey!’ and we see a man with a bucket walking down the path towards us. We’re monkeying it over the wall before he can get more than a quarter down the path and dash off into the dawn.  
I’ll never tell anyone but I actually like the running. The wind’s fingers are in my hair, the ocean’s in my nose and the roar of adrenaline is in my veins. I laugh as we duck through streets and alleys until we reach home. 

As I collapsed on my bed I turned to Nix and smiled. ‘Well I’d say that was one of our better scraps, huh?” I asked. Nix grinned at me and took of her mask replying, ‘Better than the time someone stole dragon treasure.’ I groaned at that, removing my own mask.  
‘Please, don’t remind me about that, I’m not ready.’ Nix just laughed, the traitor.  
Nix shoved our masks and bag into my closet, then left to return to her own room. I changed into my PJs and decided to try to catch some sleep, luckily, today was a Saturday. 

We slept until lunch time, then went to an out of the way cove with Ms Melody. We watched as she put on her skin and slipped beneath the waves in seal form. She gave us a protection charm as thanks saying it would protect us when out on the ocean. As we walked home I watched the town. In the daylight, things were sharp and clear. There weren’t any places for unseen beings to sneak and slide through. But people still walked and acted the same as they would otherwise. Last night no one could see us and we hid behind masks, today we don’t but are still ourselves. Meh, philosophy.


End file.
